A Long Weekend in Kolkata: The Offbeat Plan
Three days adds Kalighat and the free Motherhouse to the North Kolkata and colonial-core weekend, plus a half-day at Dakshineswar and Belur Math across the river. Doing this in 2 days instead? See the weekend plan ; want more, including Tiretti Bazaar’s dawn breakfast? See the 4 day plan .
| Day | Focus |
|---|---|
| 1 | North Kolkata’s book stalls, idol makers, and a surviving tram |
| 2 | Victoria Memorial, the Indian Museum, and Howrah Bridge from a safe distance |
| 3 | Kalighat, the free Motherhouse, and Dakshineswar across the river |
Book these before you go
- Book a Kolkata heritage walking tour , useful for the colonial core on day two
- Book a Kolkata food tour for kathi rolls and Bengali sweets without hunting stalls yourself
- Compare Park Street hotel rates before Durga Puja season pushes prices up
Day 1: North Kolkata, book stalls and idol makers
Start at College Street, Asia’s largest secondhand book market, stalls open roughly 11am to 7pm and mostly shut Sundays, with the 1876-built Indian Coffee House tucked inside for a break in its old wooden booths. Walk to Jorasanko Thakurbari, Rabindranath Tagore’s ancestral home and now a museum (check incredibleindia.gov.in for current hours), then to Marble Palace, an 1835 mansion with a small private zoo of peacocks and deer behind its art collection, free entry though a permit requirement is worth confirming ahead. Finish at Kumartuli, the potters’ quarter where Durga idols get hand-built; visit July through September for workshops in full swing, since by the October festival itself the idols have already left for the pandals. Ride tram Route 5 back toward Esplanade in the evening, one of only two routes still running in 2026.
Day 2: Victoria Memorial, the Museum, and the Bridge
Spend the morning at Victoria Memorial , Rs 50 for Indian nationals and Rs 500 for foreign visitors, then walk the Maidan to the Indian Museum, India’s oldest and largest, Rs 75 for Indian adults and Rs 500 for foreign visitors. In the afternoon, walk Park Street past Flurys, a tearoom since 1927, then head to the Strand for a distant look at Howrah Bridge. Photography there is officially banned under a long-standing port-trust rule, loosely enforced but not lifted, so skip the tripod and keep the camera down near the guard posts; a phone snapshot from the ghats draws little attention.
Day 3: Kalighat, the Motherhouse, and Dakshineswar
Morning: Kalighat Kali Temple, one of the 51 Shakti Peethas, no entry fee beyond an optional paid skip-the-line darshan, sits beside Mother Teresa’s Motherhouse , the Missionaries of Charity headquarters, free with no ticket of any kind and home to her tomb and personal effects. Afternoon: cross to Dakshineswar Kali Temple on the Hooghly’s east bank, free entry, and Belur Math directly across the river, headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission, also free; the two sit close enough to combine into one half-day. Evening: a quiet dinner near Kalighat or back toward Park Street.
Wear something you can slip off easily: shoes come off before Kalighat, Dakshineswar, and Belur Math alike, and a slip-on pair saves real time across a day with three temple stops.